Social media is a fast paced and emotional space, and brands need to be completely aware of their surroundings. Many of you might remember my post on how insensitive Kenneth Cole was back in February during the uprising in Cairo, and it appears Entenmann’s, a bakery company, has done it during the Casey Anthony trial today.

Entenmann’s tweeted out “Who’s #notguilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?!” not long after the announcement that Casey Anthony was found Not Guilty in the murder of her beautiful two year old daughter, Caylee Anthony. As you can imagine, this was a very heated and emotional verdict, and many felt the tweet was completely inappropriate given the circumstances.

Now, I understand that we can not be on top of everything all of the time, but this trial was the biggest since O.J. Simpson and one would had to have been under a rock not to be aware of what was happening. That said, I can’t find complete fault in Entenmann’s, as their entire business is built on the guilty pleasures of eating unhealthy snacks. So to be honest, I am personally giving them the benefit of the doubt on this unfortunate situation. However, brands, companies, and social media professionals need to take a moment and use this as a lesson of what NOT to do!

They  have since issues an apology via Twitter:

We have a responsibility to our clients and customers to always be aware of what is going on in the news, and must keep abreast of the emotional topics of the day. After all, we are looked at as being on the cutting edge, and a mistake like this can be devastating to a companies reputation.

Harrison Painter